


Cringe

by grayorca, YearwalktheWorld



Series: Skynet: 900 [6]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Wings, Drama, Fluff, Gen, Platonic Relationships, Upgraded Connor | RK900 Has a Different Name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 13:37:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17961584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grayorca/pseuds/grayorca, https://archiveofourown.org/users/YearwalktheWorld/pseuds/YearwalktheWorld
Summary: Wings AU. “Feelings comfortably mixed.”





	Cringe

**Author's Note:**

> Put on some Matt Maeson.
> 
> Mini sequel to _Pegged_.

In a way, it was a joke when one’s android malfunctioned to point to the proverbial owner’s manual and say “look there”. Most of said manuals were only for the most generic of problems. Turn it off, then on again, usually. Press the LED and keep it held down for thirty seconds to induce a momentary stasis mode. The android in question should boot back up of its own accord within a minute.

Anything more complicated, say hello to your nearest maintenance store and a hefty repair bill.

Gavin Reed supposed he had lucked out, in some regard, that his given partner was vetted and covered for any and all wear and tear, free of charge, pursuant to CyberLife’s standing arrangement with the DPD.

Noah, conversely, sulked for a week after having his broken wing replaced. He didn’t have to say as much. He had already admitted to being embarrassed over something as simple as being outflown by a shoplifter. All the money and time put into his design, only to fall victim to such a base mistake.

As yet, he hadn’t gotten over the hump of being disappointed in himself.

It was getting droll.

——-

It wasn't like Gavin really cared about what Noah was feeling, or ever openly, publicly admit if he was. It was just the fact that it was so fucking depressing to see the android sulk around, made Gavin want to start sulking as well.

May as well distract him with his charming/annoying self, right?

Reaching out without a thought, he grabbed hold of his android partner's left wing, quills twining in his fist, and gave it a tug. “Dude. Stop it, you're bein’ a killjoy.”

The (replaced) wing in question flinched, a kneejerk response Noah himself didn’t bother to mirror with any other facet of his body. The free, opposite wing flexed and gave a lazy flap.

Meanwhile, the shelf of files Noah was pouring through continued to be picked at. Frowning, brow creased, he didn’t look up. “Please, unhand me, Detective. Those shafts aren’t meant to be bent.”

Said as if he couldn’t just regenerate them as easily as he did false skin or synthetic-fibered hair.

Gavin loosened his grip on them, but didn't completely let go - merely letting them lay flat in the palm of his hand. The once-smooth feathers only clumped so much, a sign of how well-groomed they were. “I won't bend them, Noah. …Why do you even have wings in the first place? What's the reasoning behind that?”

Sparing him only the barest of looks, sensing the poor attempt at a distraction without even trying, the android seemed stuck on the verge of an eyeroll.

But, being Noah, the RK900 wouldn’t defer to such an obvious tell. Tells were for humans. Plus, Reed knew why androids were made with wings as much as anyone else in his generation. Why fish for an explanation on something that was common knowledge?

Not to mention bring them up at all? Advanced or not, equipped with the latest technologies, even Noah wasn’t absolved of the possibility of crashing. Anything that flew brought the possibility with it for ever going aloft, from birds to planes to space shuttles. He needed to get over the concept he was (somehow) immune to it.

Because he wasn’t. Even the Wright Flyer crashed several times before successful takeoff. As did every bird who ever left a nest.

“You know why.” Saying no more, Noah used a fingertip to pull the next folder in the rack forward. “For me to explain would be fairly redundant.”

“Yeah, well, I'm not very creative, it's the best I can come up with on short notice. Either this, or you keep on sulkin’, so…” Trailing off, Gavin removed his hand from the wing, ignoring how it gave another flighty twitch, moving to be more in front of Noah - no easy feat, with the file cabinet in his way. He resorted to leaning over and propping an elbow up atop it. “Tell me. Why do androids have wings?”

Noah kept rifling through the stack as he begrudgingly answered, spewing pre-programmed rhetoric by the detached manner in which he spoke: “CyberLife androids aren’t bound by the same limitations as humans, owing to our lightweight-frame composition, cross-industrial compatibility, and superior reflexes. Like Icarus’ lament, the decision to make us capable of flight was a means to reinvent transit and transport as much as find more eco-friendly means to travel. Too much dependence on any one of these things inflicts undo suffrage upon the others.”

Gavin smirked. To find himself snoring at the end of all that would defeat the point of why he asked the android to explain.

But it was tempting.

“Uh… okay, we'll pretend I understood that part, but whatever you're gonna say next, dumb it down, like, times ten.” He rolled his eyes at Noah, even if the android wasn't looking his way. Dude probably knew that was too much for him to understand, and said it anyways. “It's only a good distraction if I'm havin’ fun as well.”

“Do I bore you so, Detective?” Noah’s eyes never looked more balefully blue than in the next deadpan stare he aimed at his partner. “You asked, I answered. And I’m fully aware of how you only asked as a means to get me out of this… mood.”

A means to an end, yes. Good he saw it for what it was.

But had he forgotten it wasn’t that long ago he was lying on concrete, with Gavin’s hand inside his chest, holding one of his main thirium lines shut to keep him from bleeding out?

And now the plastic prick had the gall to try and keep moping.

“Okay, asshole, I'm only gonna say this once, so listen up.” Slamming the cabinet shut, to hell with pleasantness, Gavin leaned in closer, trying to make himself able to tower over the android. Goddammit, what was it with CyberLife and making their androids, on average, nine feet tall? That was bad enough without the admission of feelings, confirming things like compassion existed in him. But here they were. “Okay, I don't want you in this mood because I - don't like it. Don't like seein’ you upset. Okay? So stop it, I'm tryin’ to help you.”

_Fine job of it you’re doing._

That would be the approximate translation of the narrowing eyes and thinning mouth. Noah didn’t even humor him with a blink. In the penultimate example of unsettling android behavior, he went totally still. Even the artificial breathing facade seemed to momentarily shut off.

Hopefully no one would walk around the corner in the next twenty seconds.

“To be upset is only natural in the face of failure, Detective Reed. That shoplifter remains at large, and us no closer to catching them.”

“Fuck that, dude. You almost _died._ I think that's a little more important than whether we bag them. If that's less important to you, that at least you're still here, you're fuckin’ insane.”

One bemused blink later, the illusion of breathing resumed. Maybe the reminder of just how not-dead he was served to semi-wake Noah back up. He wasn’t half as stubborn about remaining in bad funks as Connor, though this bout could have given the RK800 a run for his (proverbial) money.

And to be told that his being online was more important than apprehending the kestrel who had single-handedly managed to fly him into a crash - Noah wasn’t used to being told as much.

Like the rookie he was at life, never mind law enforcement.

Probably wondering if he wasn’t wired backwards all of a sudden, too.

“But… are you not disappointed I failed, still? I’m supposed to be an asset to you, Detective, not a hindrance.”

Great. The RK900, despite his look, was as prone to insecurities as any layman.

“ _Dude_. That's what I've been trying to say, but clearly, I'm fuckin’ bad with words. You know how many times I ‘fail’ somethin’ like this?” Leaning back at that, Gavin shrugged. ‘Course it felt awful when he did fail, but it wasn't like he was getting booted from his job for it, or hanging onto it the way Noah did, at least usually. “Stop beatin’ yourself up, okay? Else I'll get pissy as well.”

One of them was bad enough. Two would be a bane on this thing called partnership.

Either trying to appease him, or genuinely glad to hear the sentiment, assured he wasn’t the failure his programming declared him, Noah’s critical expression eased up. The lines between his brows smoothed out. With almost a twitch, as if he were unsure if how to mimic the guise, the android tried at a shy half-smile.

Okay. Now that was officially too cute.

But just as well, Gavin was the only witness. And he would go to his grave without declaring out loud how insufferably precious CyberLife managed to render some models.

At least this one didn’t have the same (unfair advantage) puppy eyes as his hotheaded big brother.

“That’s better.” Giving into the urge without really thinking about it, Gavin reached over to Noah's face, patting one of his cheeks with some amount of sarcasm at the smile. “Good first try, Noah. We'll get you to a full one in no time, won't we?”

Hopefully the praise didn’t fall on entirely-deaf ears.


End file.
